Cricket Tournaments

Chennai Super Kings vs Royal challengers Bangalore

It will be great from India’s point of view that at least one of the IPL teams will make it to the summit clash of the Champions League T20. That might be either the Chennai Super Kings or the Bangalore Royal Challengers, depending on who gets the better of the other in the first semi-final at Durban. Both teams are equally matched and well-balanced, a fact their head-to-head record demonstrates – Bangalore have won four and Chennai three. And so, another tight contest can be expected on the big Friday.

Interestingly, both teams have charted a similar path enroute to get to the last four. It was only a victory in their final league game that got them through. However, the mistakes can’t be repeated now as the tournament heads into the knockout stage. It would be difficult to say who holds the advantage since both Bangalore and Chennai have varied strengths.

While Bangalore have a solid pace attack backed by the experienced hand of their leading spinner and skipper Anil Kumble, Chennai rely heaving on spin, with both R Ashwin and Muralitharan tasting a good amount of success. Even though the Durban pitch is expected to favour the faster men more than the slower bowlers, Ashwin and Murali are good enough to trouble the best, irrespective of the surface. And so, it might all boil down to the batting of the two sides, which boasts of rather impressive names.

There is the rock solid Rahul Dravid at the top of the order along with the rollicking Manish Pandey, who have been giving Bangalore worthy starts. And then, there is Virat Kohli, who has been scintillating down the order, notwithstanding the mixed results. The problem for Bangalore lies in between. Ross Taylor hasn’t lived up to the expectations yet. But, he is experienced enough to come good on the big day. Also, Robin Uthappa and Cameron White will get another chance to enhance their big-hitting reputation. On their day, they can be the most destructive.

If Bangalore’s batting line is imposing, Chennai need now worry. They have their own arms of giants. The experiment of Michael Hussey at the top of the order with Murali Vijay has worked nicely thus far and should continue. Another good opening stand would mean the big hitters like Raina, Dhoni and Anirudha can free their arms from the word go. And if any from the trio gets going, Bangalore’s bowlers, especially the ones short on pace like Vinay Kumar and Praveen Kumar, can be taken to the cleaners.

As if to set up everything evenly, both sides also have a South African injury problem and that too with their chief all-rounder. However, while Jacques Kallis has been ruled out of the tournament with a neck injury, Albie Morkel can still make it to Chennai’s XI provided he has recovered from his illness. In that case, it would be advantage Chennai, since Morkel will give his side better balance as compared to Bangalore.

Having weighed all permutations and combinations, a close contest seems imminent. Over to the teams to live up to the bidding.

They may have won the first ODI at Vadodara, but there is not a lot of good news coming out of the Australian camp on the eve of the second match, a day-night affair, at Nagpur. The Aussies will miss the services of speedster Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes. Lee developed a right elbow strain during the opening game and managed to send down only six overs while Hopes pulled a hamstring. There are also doubts over another all-rounder Mitchell Johnson’s participation, but, thankfully for the Aussies, he is still in contention and might end up taking the field at Nagpur.

In the meantime, New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques has been called up by the Australian team management as a standby. He will stay on with the team till the fourth match of the series after joining them on Thursday in Delhi. Post the fourth game at Mohali, a final decision would be made regarding whether Henriques will continue to be a part of the squad for the entire tournament or be relieved, depending on whether Hopes is fit.

The all-rounder recently featured in the inaugural Champions League T20, which New South Wales won. He was highly impressive in the tournament and garnered a lot of praise. Hence, the call up wasn’t all that surprising. Prior to that, Henriques also took part in the IPL, but that ended up being a rather disastrous venture, with his franchise – The Kolkata Knight Riders – finishing at the bottom of the table.

This is not the first time Henriques finds himself in such a situation. A similar thing happened during the series against minnows Bangladesh last year. He was also impressive during Australia A’s winter series against Pakistan A and has been on the fringes of selection since.

Coming back to Australia and injuries, the list only gets longer for the kangaroos. Lee, Hopes and Johnson have now joined Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin and promising youngster Callum Ferguson, all of whom had to give this tour a skip due to various injury-related problems.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting made an apt point at a press conference held prior to the start of the one-day series against India when he said that ‘seven games in a bilateral series are too many’. Even if we take away this one-day series, it can still be said that there has been an overdose of cricket in recent times. We first had IPL 2, which was immediately followed by the T20 World Cup, then the Champions Trophy and the Champions League T20. Three of these four tournaments were 20-20 versions of the game, so it was surprising that Ponting did not mention this aspect with reference to ‘too many’.

We all know where the money lies in the modern cricket. Even so, an excess of anything, no matter how successful it is, will only prove harmful in the longer run. The disappointing television ratings for the Champions League T20 is a case in point; a strong indicator that organizers of such tournaments should know where to draw the line. As it is, the 50-over version is under threat from a number of quarters, so why give it a chance to be criticized further by having such a long, drawn-out tournament.

Also it is clear that too much money is corrupting the game as well as players. We are now beginning to hear terms like freelancers in cricket too. The likes of Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram have sacrificed their Test careers to prolong their stay in the shorter format of the game. But are the players to be blamed for making the choice? Not really. It is the organizers and the various cricket boards who have come forward and made tournaments like IPL and Champions League a reality and opened up a new option for cricketers.

While there is no denying that they provide entertainment, the quantity of time it absorbs is just too huge for comfort. The players thus are being forced to make a choice between playing for their country and playing for a franchise. The injury-hit Oram was honest enough to admit that he was looking to secure his and his family’s future before he hangs his boots. And he has possibly set a precedent for other cricketers who are going through a similar dilemma.

Modern-day cricket has become like a daily TV soap, being played out day in and day out. Thus, there is a possible danger of it getting worn out over a period of time. Also, if players are seen more in ‘club’ teams as opposed to country colours, the patriotic factor will be lost over a period of time. And if the crowds begin to go away, the money too will automatically vanish. The thought might seem rather premature and audacious, but not the danger signals.